The Vastness of the Mind
by Arrowhead1996
Summary: The TARDIS picks up a strange signal that seems to be originating from a mansion on Earth. Curious, the Doctor and Rose go to investigate. What they find leads into a whole new set of adventures and, ultimately, the gaining of a new friend.
1. Prologue

**Hello! Okay, I wasn't planning on posting this until I had a little more done, but I really wanted to do a special thing with it for Christmas, and I didn't want to just post it and not give you guys any background. So... here is the Prologue and the first chapter. I will write and post the Christmas part in a separate document once I have it written out. That one will only be a few chapters long, but this story is going to go for a while. I think I'm going to do the majority of season 2 of Doctor Who in this story.**

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Prologue

I looked at the scanner, curious about what insignificant human had been chosen for my project. I saw a young female. She was sleeping all curled up around a fluffy toy. A quick scan showed that she was only about thirteen years of age. "Perfect! At that age, their minds are so vunerable. And so creative. She should give us plenty of good results." I began pressing the buttons that would start the transmitter.

Of course I had been talking to no one. There was no one here but me. No one else could see the value in an experiment like this. The advances that could be made if this was successful were just too amazing to really comprehend! But no one understood. No one but me. But I would show them. I would show them all what I could do.

I pressed one final button and the girl twitched in her sleep. I smiled. _Prepare to get rich!_ I told myself. And I felt a grin spreading across my face.


	2. Anomaly

**Just to let you know, this starts just after the New Earth Episode with Cassandra and the hospital.**

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Chapter One

Anomaly

The Doctor was dancing around the TARDIS control boards, babbling a million miles a minute about some new planet that he wanted to go to. Rose Tyler was leaning against the railing and watching him with a smile on her face. She loved watching him being clever almost as he loved her doing it. That thought made her smile even wider. At least, it did until the TARDIS suddenly shuddered and then jolted to one side.

The babbling abruptly cut off as they both had to grab hold of the console in order to avoid tumbling to the grated floor. "What's wrong?" Rose yelled over the noise and the shaking.

"She's picked up something!" the Doctor called back. "I caught a glimpse of it on the scanner before she-," he was abruptly cut off again as the ship jolted again, shaking loose their grips and tossing them to the floor. "Are you alright?" the Doctor asked as they both sat up.

"I'm fine," she assured him, using the console to pull herself up. "So where are we?"

The Doctor swung the scanner around to face them and peered at it. "We're somewhere near Newport, in 2014!" He ran his hand through his hair, making it spike up even more. "What's so interesting here that the TARDIS would come running without even being subtle about it?" He looked over at Rose and grinned.

Quickly, the two of them scampered down the ramp and out the TARDIS doors, being sure to shut them securely behind them. Rose's eyes widened at the huge house that stood before them. Actually, it was more than a house. It was a mansion. But it was so quiet.

"Can you hear that?" the Doctor asked.

"Hear what?" Rose replied incredulously. "It's totally quiet." At that exact moment, there was a loud bang from the back of the building. The Doctor grabbed her hand and they were running.

When they reached the back of the house, they saw only one person standing on the lawn. It was a young woman, late-teens, early-twenties with shoulder-length black hair and caramel skin.

As they ran up to her, she looked up and smiled. That threw Rose off. Most people would have instantly launched into a list of questions as to who they were, and what they were doing there. Instead, the girl glanced down at her watch and said, "I give him two minutes. If he has not defeated him at that point, there is something wrong and I am going up there to make him stop. We have an outdoor stadium for a reason! They need to learn to use it." She looked back up and smiled again. "In the meantime, I can greet you! I love new people. I'm Sashura Makarova, but you can call me Shura. What are your names?"

She spoke with a mixed Russian and English accent. It made her speech a little hard to follow since she tended to use pronunciations at random, but the Doctor was far more interested in her reactions than in her accent. "Hello! Nice to meet you. I'm the Doctor and this is Rose. Um, who were you talking about just now?"

"Oh, that would be Kyoya. I always tell them not to battle in the house, but they are just too competitive for their own good! It's so annoying." Just then, the house shook and something exploded outward from it. The Doctor ducked, pulling Rose down with him to shield her in case there was anything more. Instead, Shura simply sighed and shook her head. "And that's that. I hope they're ready to do some major clean-up work." She smiled again. "Now then, why don't you come inside and we can get to know each other." Without another word, she turned and headed into the house, pausing in the doorway to gesture them inside before disappearing into the dim interior.

The pair outside slowly got to their feet. "Doctor," Rose asked, her voice trembling a little. "What was that that exploded?"

"It was some sort of telepathic energy. It just rushed out. This place is humming with energy. The Time Lords were telepathic, so I can feel it. It's just all over this place. Makes me want to move out of the way of some things. As though there's something there." He looked over at her. "Do you want to leave?"

"Course not!" she exclaimed. "It's a little spooky, but I won't let it scare me away." The Doctor grinned. "So, should we go in?"

"Of course! Off we go!" And in they went.

?DW?

The inside of the mansion was just as impressive as the outside. But it was decorated in such a mixed up and varied fashion, that the elegance was almost destroyed. The marble floors were covered in rugs of different sizes, shapes, patterns, colors, and materials. The walls were a little more clear, but they were still hung with varied paintings that didn't necessarily go together.

It was a bit of a sensory overload, but the Doctor managed to focus on the girl they were following. She was moving down the hallway in a zigzag pattern that had her bobbing and weaving as though to avoid figures. Finally, she reached a room near the end of the hallway, and ducked into the doorway.

Shura started talking the moment they were in the room. "Well, then. What are your names? No, wait," she said before the Doctor could open his mouth. "You already told me. you're the Doctor, and your friend is Rose. That's such a pretty name. Surprisingly, we haven't ever had anyone else called Rose in here. Not a very popular name. You, on the other hand," she said, turning to the Doctor. "We already have someone called Doctor here. He mostly stays on Voyager, though. And sometimes he goes by Joe. So silly. Twenty-five years to come up with Joe! He did have a name before for one episode. Schwitzer. But it had too many painful memories by the end of the episode, Beowulf and all that with Harry. Of course, we don't really need to go into all that. What I'm more interested in is what you're from. I don't recognize you. What are you from? It's got to be a show. There must have been a new show on last night. I was watching the SiFi channel when I went to sleep, so you must be space people."

She smiled, "Let me see if I can figure it out." She sat and stared at them hard for a moment. Rose looked uncertainly between Shura and the Doctor, while the Doctor simply gazed right back at Shura with his face completely neutral. "You are an alien," Shura said abruptly, pointing at the Doctor. "While you," she pointed at Rose, "are human. Completely human. But you must be something pretty special to be with such a person as him." She turned back to the Doctor, gazing directly into his eyes without flinching.

"You, sir," she said finally, "are older than you look. I'd place you at about 900 give or take a few years. While your youthful looks make you reminiscent of the elves, your eyes are not quite old enough. Yoda. Your eyes make me think of Yoda and his 900 years. You've traveled far and seen much. So much pain and sadness. You're happier now, but the pain is still there. simmering just under the surface."

"You're very perceptive," the Doctor said when she finally stopped. "How do you see so much?"

"I watch the people around me. I talk to them. And I read - a lot." She had a strange tone in her voice as she spoke, and Rose wondered what she was thinking.

Shura was silent for only a moment before she was talking again, "Anyway, we'd better get you two settled. Would you like a room in the house? I'm sure we have at least one available."

"No, thank you," said the Doctor. "We'll stay on our ship if that's alright."

"Of course," she replied with a smile. "The Voyager and Enterprise crews stay on their ships as well. It only makes sense. Not everyone can fit in here of course, so it works out well." She stood up from her chair. "I would love to see your ship, if that's alright."

"Of course," the Doctor replied with a wide smile. "I think you would like it."

Shura smiled back. "I'm sure I will." She gestured out the door and they proceeded into the hall.

They made it back to the TARDIS without incident, and the Doctor was quite pleased at Shura's reaction. "Oh, how wonderful! A tiny ship! If you both went in there, it would be awfully tight, so there must be something else." She walked completely around the ship, staying close to the walls to make sure that it was really the size that it looked. "It's really that size on the outside! That means it must be bigger on the inside! Oh, but this is incredible!" She turned back toward the house, cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "SAM!" She waited a moment, smacked her hand lightly against her forehead and called again, "SAMANTHA CARTER!" A longer moment passed, and then Shura smiled. "Sam, come and take a look at this ship! It's bigger on the inside!" There was a moment of quiet, and then she sighed, "Well, I haven't actually gone in yet, but it's the only logical deduction." Another moment, "Well, I was just about to ask him to do so."

She turned to the Doctor, "Could we see inside?"

"Of course," the Doctor pulled the key out of his inside jacket pocket, and was just about to open the door when Shura stumbled backward suddenly as though something had run into her.

"OW! What, Vidia?" She was quiet for a moment before she sighed in exasperation. "Not again!" She turned to the Doctor. "I'm so sorry, but I need to go take care of this. Ryuga is in another one of his moods and I need to go calm him down. I'll have to see your ship some other time."

"Oh, I hope it's nothing serious," the Doctor replied, sounding concerned.

"Well, that depends on how deep in the mood he's in," she replied. "Why don't you move your ship over by the barn. That's where we keep the smaller ships-" she broke off and turned her head quickly toward the house. She winced. "I'd better go, I'll see you later." Without another word, she took off running toward the house.

The Doctor stared after her for a long moment before Rose finally spoke up. "What was that? I think she's lost it."

"No," the Doctor replied. "There's something else going on here. I don't know what yet, but it's something major." He turned toward her and grinned. "This should be fun."


	3. Beyblades and Shrinks

**Okay, so... this sorta died.**

**I really like what I have planned for this story, so I'll do my best to get more done. Until then, here's the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, Sherlock, Metal Fight Beyblade, Lord of the Rings, Avengers, Star Wars, or Inkheart. I do own Shura. I also own Serian. You can borrow them, but only with permission.**

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Chapter Two

Beyblades and Shrinks

Shura was more than a little ticked when she entered the attic where Ryuga was stewing. Storm clouds were practically visible around him as he stood in the center of the room, gripping L-Drago. Of all the times for him to go evil on them, it had to be just when they had some new arrivals. But she knew that being mad at him wouldn't make him calm down.

"Ryuga?" she called softly. The white-haired boy turned quickly, his golden-yellow eyes fixing themselves on her.

"Get out," he growled. "You are not worthy to battle me."

"You're right, Ryuga," she replied, her voice perfectly calm. "You would crush me no matter what mood you were in. I just wanted to take a look at L-Drago for a moment. Can I see her? Just for a moment."

Without hesitation, Ryuga lifted the bey, showing her the rubber sheathed energy ring of Meteo L-Drago. _"Good,"_ she thought. _"If he has Meteo, then he's reasonable."_

"She's beautiful," she said without even a moment of hesitation. "I'm glad you've defeated the Dark Power. I think L-Drago looks better this way." Ryuga was silent, but she could tell that he agreed with her. _"This might be easier than I thought."_

"I bet the other's would love to see her. Why don't you go show her to your friends. They've been worried about you. They want to make sure you're alright."

For a long moment, Ryuga was silent, but slowly, the storm clouds faded away and his eyes softened just the tiniest bit. "You're right, I should go show them." Without another word, he strode past her and down the stairs into the house.

Shura let out her breath in a whoosh. That had gone so much better than it might have. If Ryuga had decided to be difficult, she would have had to bring in Gingka and Kyoya, and things might not have settled down as quickly as they had.

She descended the stairs and nearly ran into Sherlock Holmes as he brushed past her. He currently looked like the curly-haired detective from the show rather than the movies, so she decided to leave him alone. He seemed a little more touchy than the old-fashioned one who shared Tony Stark's face.

As she continued down into the living room, a few fairies flew by overhead, and she smiled at their jingled conversation. She then had to hop over a couple of mice on the floor, and then duck as a miniature plane zoomed over her head.

Finally, she managed to make it back outside and head in the direction of the new-comers' ship. They had parked it by the barn, just as she had asked them to, and she smiled when she noticed the door to the barn open. Hopefully, that meant that they were getting to know the horses. As she approached the door, she heard a loud bang, like hooves striking wood, and she winced. She entered quickly, fully prepared to calm an angry horse. What she found instead, surprised her.

The two newcomers were visiting with Silme, Serian's horse, but were completely ignoring the other horses that lived in the stable. "Hello, again!" she called. The two turned toward her, and smiled. Another bang made her turn quickly to see Swan, another of Serian's horses, kicking at the stall door and trying to get some attention.

Shura moved quickly to the white horse, and petted her to calm her down. "Goodness, Swan! You can be very demanding sometimes, you know?" She turned to see the Doctor and Rose staring at her with odd expressions on their faces. "Sorry about that. She likes to have attention."

The Doctor nodded, reached into his suit jacket, and pulled out a slender, silver device with a blue light at the end. It made a buzzing sound as he pressed a button on its side, pointing it at her and waving it around. She frowned. "What's that?"

"Sonic Screwdriver," he replied simply. He looked at the screwdriver as though reading some kind of readout. "Oh, my," he murmured. "What have we here?"

"Doctor?" Rose asked uncertainly.

The Doctor didn't reply, but instead just looked up from his screwdriver and into Shura's eyes. Without saying a word, he walked over to her. She still had her hand on Swan's head and the Doctor slowly moved his hand toward the horse as though to pet her. Then, to Shura's shock, he passed his hand directly through Swan's neck.

Shura lept away from him, backing away quickly as a jolt of fear and anger ran through her. "Go away!" she cried. "Leave me alone. I don't want you here!"

The Doctor moved toward her slowly, hands out in a gesture of peace. "I promise, I'm not here to hurt you. I want to help."

"That's what they all say!" she screamed at him. She knew her Russian accent was becoming terribly thick, but she didn't care. She wanted this stupid shrink and his pretty assistant off her property and out of her life.

She hurried out of the barn and nearly ran into Steve Rogers as he came running toward her with Bucky, Anakin, Obi-Wan and the rest of the Avengers, minus Bruce. Steve wrapped one arm around her protectively, holding his shield out toward the Doctor who had emerged from the barn with Rose right behind him. "Make them go away!" she told Steve. "They want to take you away!"

The Super Soldier stroked her hair comfortingly and then addressed the intruders. "I think it's time you left."

The Doctor didn't respond. "Shura, whatever is going on here, isn't right. It's not normal."

"I told them not to send any more shrinks! I like my life. I'm staying here!"

"I'm not a shrink," he said gently. "You looked into my eyes. Your deductions were spot on. I'm 900 years old, and I'm an alien from outer space."

She peeked out at him from behind Steve's shield. His reasoning made sense. She had seen evidence of long years in his eyes. And then there was that box of his. The little, wooden box that he said was his ship. What shrink would go through all the trouble of making something to blend in with, what might be guessed from her books, to be something that might be in her world of stories and legends?

"You said you were a doctor."

"That's what I'm called. I'm called the Doctor, but I'm not like that."

Shura was silent for a moment as she watched one of the blue fairies dart toward the Doctor and yank a few strands of hair from his head. He yelped, clearly surprised and hurting a little. She laughed and emerged from behind Steve's shield. Steve placed a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at him reassuringly. "I think we're alright." He nodded and let her go.

She walked up to the Doctor who was still rubbing his head. "So," she said, and he looked at her. "You're from the outside, but you're not a doctor. You say you're an alien. An alien from the outside. I thought those only existed here."

"No," he said, finally removing his hand from his head. "Rose and I travel through Time and Space in the TARDIS." He gestured to the little box he had been going to show her before the incident with Ryuga.

Suddenly, Rose shrieked and Shura looked over at her to see her holding her head just as the Doctor had been doing. A second blue fairy was flying quickly away with several strands of long, blond hair dangling beneath her. "Sorry, about that," Shura apologized. "The fairies like human hair for nests, and you two have such nice hair."

"How is it that they can touch us, but we can't touch them?" Rose asked.

"That's just the way it is with people from the outside. If you try to interact with them, nothing happens, but they can interact with you, just fine. It can be very helpful for keeping away unwanted visitors. Once, some boys from the village came over here, certain that the place was haunted. We managed to drive them away," she laughed. "It was hilarious to watch. They told everyone in the village that this place was haunted, and that if they came here, they would be attacked. I don't know if they were believed about the haunted part, but they stayed away just in case."

"That could be a problem. If they can hurt people, but people can't defend themselves from them..."

"They only attack if I'm being threatened," she assured him. She looked over her shoulder to see that everyone except Steve was heading back toward the house. Steve remained nearby, clearly not wanting to leave her on her own.

The Doctor nodded thoughtfully. "So! Would you still like to see my ship?"

She turned back to him excitedly. "Absolutely! I want to see it even more now that I know that it's from the outside." She turned back to Steve. "I'll be fine, Steve. You can take off now."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

She nodded, "Yeah. I'll see you later." He nodded, and headed back to the house. She then turned back to the Doctor. "Okay! Let's go see your bigger-on-the-inside ship!"


End file.
